The present invention relates to a container for packaging and unwinding a coil of wire, and more particularly to a container for packaging and unwinding fine or thin welding electrode wire;
however, the invention has broader applications and can be used to package and unwind a variety of types, shapes and thicknesses of wires.
The packaging of wire is normally coiled in a continuous length within a cylindrical container or drum about a central core, or wound or coiled about a platform-supported rigid rack or reel. Several problems exist when the coiled wire is unwound and used in various applications such as in soldering and welding. These problems include the tangling of the wire as it unwinds from the wire coil, and the wire twisting or forming kinks as the wire is unwound from the wire coil. These to problems cause damage to the wire thereby resulting in the inability of the wire to be fed into the solder or welding gun, or being abruptly drawn into the soldering or welding gun, thus resulting in a lower quality and/or non-uniform weld or solder.
Two types of cylindrical containers or drums for the dispensing of coiled wire are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,105,943 and 5,494,160. The '943 patent discloses a cylindrical container, on which a hood with a wire guiding sheath is placed, wherein a moveable lid or disc is placed above the coil so that it can descend freely as the vertical thickness of the coil decreases. The disc has a smaller diameter than the internal diameter of the container to stabilize the coil within the container as the wire is drawn through the gap in the top of the container. The '160 patent discloses a container having a contoured top portion which reduces in cross-sectional area as the uncoiled wire proceeds to the central opening in the top of the container. A coil covering panel having a central circular opening is used in conjunction with the container to dispense the wire. Although both of these container designs help reduce the twisting and tangling of the coiled wire during dispensement, both of these wire containers have several deficiencies.
These cylindrical containers or drums are typically used to dispense thicker wire since smaller diameter wire has a tendency to easily bend and/or become tangled upon dispensement. Consequently, coiled fine wire is typically dispensed from wire reels which helps to reduce the bending and tangling of the fine wire upon dispensement. However, these coils of wire, during shipment and storage, typically become compressed resulting in problems of unwinding the wire from the reel.
In view of the deficiencies of the prior art with respect to the unwinding of welding wire, and in particular, to the unwinding of fine diameter welding wire, to prevent the tangling of the wire and/or bending of the wire during the payed out of the wire from the coil, there is a demand for an improved container for packaging and unwinding a coil of wire.